I wonder where my check is. Companies and government agencies often try to settle lawsuits out of court. In many cases they are much cheaper. That is until the government takes over. The original bill on Pigford was introduced by Senator Barack Obama. The courts reviewed the case and eventually the Supreme Court ruled that 91 farmers were deserving of settlements based on racial bias. No one can argue that was not fair. Discrimination did take place.
But in 2009, Bob Menendez threatened to shut down the settlement unless thousands of Hispanics were added to the payoffs and Obama then removed all conditions that were used to detect fraud. This is very reminiscent of the way he has handled welfare, food stamps and many other government giveaways. The original 91 complainants were to receive 50k each for a total payout of $45,500,000. A lot of money, but it was to correct unfair practices of the past. Now, with thousands of Hispanic and women farmers being added even though they never made a complaint in 1997 are now eligible for payouts and the total set aside is 1.33 billion, which is 29.3 times the original settlement.
